Phil Grizzard: Does kindness matter?

Recently, local churches held a rally in Bloomington as part of a national initiative titled "Do Unto Others: A Campaign for Kindness," which encourages kindness during this election season. Speeches were given by several elected officials and candidates, both Democratic and Republican.

Am I the only one who sees the 800 pounds of hypocrisy in the room?

Tens of millions of Americans, including tens of thousands of local residents, are planning to vote for the most publicly unkind presidential candidate in the history of American politics.

The fact that you already know who I'm talking about proves my point just about as much as anything else I could say. But allow me to elaborate.

Kindness is not just being nice to certain people. Kindness means treating someone well when they are not like you, have nothing to offer you, and even when they oppose you.

Donald Trump is kind to his supporters — and extraordinarily kind to "very fine" white supremacists.

But he calls Kamala Harris "dumb as a rock," "wack job," "low IQ individual," "doesn't have a clue," "she's crazy," "very stupid," and on and on and on — rhetoric unbecoming of a presidential candidate prior to Trump.

It's not just that Trump isn't kind — he's the antithesis of kind. He is intentionally antagonistic, downright cruel on purpose. It's his schtick — his appeal for those who now feel relieved of the constraints of basic human decency.

The chair of the Illinois Republican Party, Kathy Salvi, recognizes that Trump is so off-putting, so vile, so obnoxious, so odious that her pitch for people to vote for him is that they can do so without having to watch or listen to him.

"I've even suggested to people, 'Turn off your TV then, don't listen to podcasts. (You) don't even have to see his face for the next four years on TV,'" Salvi equivocated.

Not seeing or hearing Trump as president for four long years would be impossible. More remarkably, have you ever heard a state party chair say anything like this about their own presidential candidate?

Folks, we're not hiring a plumber in this election. The president's job is representing the entire nation and setting the standard for public discourse — the kindness, or lack thereof.

But Trump's anti-kindness is beyond unseemly rhetoric — his lustful hatred toward vulnerable people has serious consequences. Since his "eating pets" slander about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, the town has had over 30 bomb threats, inciting fear and forcing evacuations and closures of schools, government buildings, and even elected officials' homes.

Anti-kindness is also Trump's main policy platform. Now he's saying of all immigrants — including legal ones — "You've got to get them the hell out!" He's inciting chants of "send them back!" And since Jan. 6, 2021, we know his words have, well, unfortunate ramifications. And that's being kind.

So how can anyone who claims to care about kindness support this vicious bigot? Only a small handful of principled Republicans — including our own Adam Kinzinger — have courageously denounced Trump, at the expense of their jobs.

Therefore, I am going to Stand Up For Kindness ( standupforkindness.com ) and call out the hypocrites. The Pantagraph covered four Republicans who gave flowery speeches about kindness at the recent local rally.

Bloomington mayoral candidate Dan Brady, McLean County Board candidate Chad Berck, Normal mayoral candidate Kathleen Lorenz and McLean County Board member Geoff Tompkins — will you stand up for kindness and publicly denounce all the anti-kindness of this indecent bully that runs your party?

Or is your support for kindness just lip service?

Phil Grizzard, of Normal, is campus minister at Judson Baptist Fellowship/AGAPE, and founder and principal tutor at Ph.G. Math Tutoring.